Start Your Bell County Research

Bell County was formed on 5 Feb 1867 from portions of Knox and Harlan Counties. Located in southeastern Kentucky along the Cumberland Gap, the county became a crossroads for frontier travel, early settlement, and later coal and rail development. No counties were later created from Bell, and its boundaries have remained stable since its formation.

Bell County within Kentucky

Research Highlights

Researchers will find a wide range of resources for tracing families who lived in or passed through this Appalachian region. Bell County records include cemeteries, census schedules, marriages, court materials, newspaper clippings, military service information, and community-contributed histories. These collections help document both long-established mountain families and those who migrated through the Cumberland Gap.

County at a Glance

County Seat: Pineville
Established: 5 Feb 1867
Parent Counties: Knox and Harlan
Children Counties:None
Named For: Joshua Fry Bell
Communities: Pineville, Middlesboro, Frakes, Arjay, Balkan, Page, and others
Geography: Mountain valleys along the Cumberland River and the Cumberland Gap

Record Loss:

1914 – Courthouse Fire: Many early county records were destroyed or damaged.
1918 – Second Fire: Additional loss occurred, especially among court materials.
1977 – Flood Damage: Severe flooding caused further destruction of stored documents.

Adjacent Counties

Repositories & Records

The Bell County Courthouse in Wickliffe holds deeds, marriage records, probate files, and circuit court orders dating back to the county's early years. Microfilm copies of many volumes are available through the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives (KDLA). Additional regional resources for researchers can be found at the Kentucky History Center in Frankfort.

Other local resources include the public libraries and the Bell County Historical Society.

Notes

Background: Pineville is located on the Cumberland River where it cuts through Pine Mountain. It was settled in 1781 as Cumberland Ford and a post office by that name opened in 1818. The name Pineville was also in use at an early time and was used when the town was laid out as the seat of the new county in 1867. The post office was renamed in 1870. The population in 1990 was 2,198.

Notable Features: Bell County includes part of the historic Cumberland Gap, one of the primary migration routes into Kentucky and the early American frontier. The county is also home to the Pinnacle Overlook, the Wilderness Road corridor, and several communities shaped by coal, timber, and early rail development. Its landscape of narrow valleys, steep ridges, and the Cumberland River has influenced settlement patterns since the mid-19th century.

Map is from the 1874 Adams Asher Map of Kentucky. Found in the David Rumsey Map Collection.